Pahrump Point

5-Jan-80

A small private climb of Pahrump the prior weekend was unsuccessful because I forgot the route and led everybody past the summit to explore other pinnacles to the N. My deserved "Pahrump sanction" was then narrowly averted by Nancy Gordon's offer of a 6-pack of beer, which she had carried all the way up in an ice-filled bag. I returned the following weekend to search for the proper route and climb the mountain in running form. Mountain running is a new form of deprivation and suffering in which the climber does his thing in light gear and running shoes. Of route again! Ran up the wrong canyon. Finally worked out a Cl. 3 approach from the N, taking 2 hrs. including errors. The way to make the climb is as follows: Drive Inyo Co Route 178 E of Shoshone. At marker 5360, take gravel rd NE to its end in a canyon (Stewart Vly 15' topo applies but the road is not shown). A VW can go all but the final 1/4 mi. Start up this cyn. Note occasional ducks and traces of trail. Change to the major side-cyn N at 3750' altitude (marked by a large cairn). Then take an unmarked side-cyn S at 4000'. This one was missed before and it cost us the mtn. Climb past a group of cairns on L side and stick to the faint trail. It crosses below a small, pinnacle to a narrow cyn to the L, which is then followed to the ridge. The final effort is a short ridge run from the S. This probably is the only Cl. 2 route to Pahrump's summit.